1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved thread guide for home embroidery and sewing machines and equipment, and more particularly, to an improved thread guide for the purpose of preventing undesirable unraveling and tangling of the thread which occurs while sewing and doing embroidery work with slippery rayon or metallic thread on home embroidery and sewing machines.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The art of sewing is as old as mankind and goes back more than 20,000 years. The first functional sewing machine in America was invented and patented by Elias Howe. However, it was Isaac Singer who designed and built the first commercially successful sewing machine during the 1850's. Inevitably, the two American inventors fought bitter legal battles resulting with Howe emerging victorious in a court case against Isaac Singer for infringement of the Howe patent.
In spite of having to pay royalties to Howe for the lockstitch concept and application found in sewing machines, Singer built the first sewing machine whereby the needle moved up and down as compared to the Howe side to side concept. Singer also invented the first foot treadle drive method for his sewing machines. Previous primary machines were all hand-crank driven. Singer also went on to patent improved methods for feeding the cloth, regulating the tension on the needle thread, and lubricating the needle thread so that leather could be sewn.
The evolution of the embroidery machine occurred around the beginning of the 19th century which falls within the same time frame as the evolution of the sewing machine. The process of embroidery is the art of stitching decorations on fabric, or similar materials, with a needle and thread. Looking back into the history of hand embroidery discloses that most cultures developed their own methods of embroidery dating back to prehistoric times when all embroidery was done by hand.
Traditionally, craft workers and hobbyists embroider by hand. Today, however, machines do most embroidering of factory products. Single needle home sewing machines can embroider with special attachments for embroidery. Today, home sewing enthusiasts can purchase modem machines with built-in computerized embroidery programs that produce outstanding designs and patterns.
Today the term machine embroidery refers to the use of robotics to affix and move the garment on a frame to sew and embroider desired designs. Modern day digitizing is the process of using customized software to create a computer file that will instruct the embroidery machine how to move, what type of stitch to sew, when to change thread colors and when to knot the end of the threads. Experienced digitizers must first take into account the type of fabric they are sewing and the size and shape of the design they are creating. Finally, each stitch of the design is programmed into the computer of the embroidery machine. If replicating artwork, printed material may be scanned into the computer to create a program that will guide the digitizer to embroider the desired images.
Embroidery Thread Problems
With today's advanced computer technology as applied toward digitizing and the attainment of picture perfect embroidery designs, one would expect the embroidery process to proceed almost totally automatically without interruptions and without the age old problem of thread tangling and breakage. When using rayon thread, however, everyone who embroiders realizes that the perfect scenario simply does not exist.
Instead, practically every embroidery person realizes that the operator must maintain a watchful vigil on a home embroidery and sewing machine or suffer the consequences of constant tangling and breakage when using rayon thread. Each and every time this frustrating dilemma occurs, the operator is required to stop the machine, cut the thread, untangle the snarl and constantly rethread the needle in an attempt to continue and complete each respective sewing/embroidery episode or project.
In addition to said aforementioned inconveniences, the operator is also required to back-space to the area of the garment/material where the stitching and stitches left off before the thread jam and breakage occurred. The purpose of re-doing the last embroidery stitches is due to the fact that many stitches are lost due to said thread breakage problems. The aforementioned back spacing is also required when there is no thread in the needle due to said breakage. Common logic dictates that without thread, no stitches or embroidery patterns can occur.
It is also a fact that most problems encountered and associated with embroidery and tangling, are due to the slick nature of the rayon thread material itself. The slicker and more slippery the material, the more difficult it becomes to prevent the thread from unraveling and sliding off of the reel portion of the thread spool. This frustrating malady, occurs as the machine embroiders and as the thread is being fed and dispensed to the machine from a spool. The same tangling and thread problems are known to exist when using slick metallic embroidery thread.
Another reason for the entanglement and jamming of thread is due to the physical gap spacing that exists between the thread reel spool and the reciprocating take-up lever guide located on the sewing head portion of the home embroidery and sewing machine. The physical weight of the slippery thread itself is sufficient to cause the thread to sag and unravel and thus fall off the spool which accounts for undesirable pooling and piling of thread at the base of said reel/spool.
Furthermore, the physical length and girth of each thread spool varies with each manufacturer which further compounds said thread feeding and tangling problems. Adding to the problems is the fact that all sewing embroidery thread is machine wound onto the spool in a criss-cross manner which requires the thread to unwind in a left/right-up/down manner depending on whether the thread is being fed from the horizontal or optional vertical thread spool pin/rod of the sewing/embroidery machine. It is well known that most thread spools are made without beveled core lips on the spool ends and are known to cause most pooling and tangling problems.
Prior art devices have not adequately solved the problems.
Several types of sewing thread guides have been designed and introduced since the turn of the 20th century. One example of sewing thread guides comprises a plastic guide for threads and yarns extending from the multiple spools to the sewing machine as found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,427,165. Close examination of said patent discloses that the Larsen Thread guide is primarily a device provided with a metal wear-bar for the purpose of preventing thread from cutting a groove in the plastic material of said patented guide. Further review of said device reveals that there is absolutely no mention pertaining to the problems associated with thread unraveling and tangling that occur when using home embroidery and sewing machines nor are any solutions mentioned or disclosed for addressing and remedying the age old problem of tangling experienced by practically every home embroidery enthusiast who uses rayon or metallic thread.
Another type of patented thread guide specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 4,552,321, supports several elongated spool/package positioning members mounted on a creel or spaced horizontal base which is offset or slanted. The multiple spool concept is presently used in several modern day serger machines and is mostly found built-in to various high production embroidery machines where larger capacity thread spools are desirable and necessary. The Raekelboom patent claims a creel for supporting a plurality of yarn packages with inner tapered cores and corresponding longitudinal bores that are not intended for use in home sewing/embroidery machines.
Other attempts at solving the tangling/unraveling problems when using rayon embroidery thread include several carousel types of spool holders. These auxiliary multiple spool holders are mounted on adjacent stands that are placed alongside of a home embroidery and sewing machine. Two of these devices, which are known as the “UNIVERSAL THREAD SPOOL HOLDER®” multiple thread spool holder and the “THREADPRO®” multiple thread spool holder devices, are designed to hold and support from two to six spools of thread simultaneously. However, the operator is still required to thread the machine individually, one spool at a time, for each and every thread color change when working with either of the two aforementioned carousel type devises. Further study reveals that several carousel manufacturers offer for sale an array of thread spool cone holders and thread nets in a futile attempt to address and deal with the familiar problem of unraveling and tangling when using slippery rayon thread. To the dismay of embroidery fans throughout the world, the continuing tangling problems have not been solved nor eliminated by the prior art.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved embroidery thread guide means for providing and assuring positive and tangle-free thread feeding of thread and for assisting in keeping consistent thread tension while using various types of thread materials and spools designated for home embroidery and sewing machines. The new device should also be adjustable with regards to left/right up/down positioning of the guide eye to ascertain center area positioning of said guide eye which is located on a free-standing slidable wire support arm of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. When adjustments are desired and made in the guide prior to doing home embroidery and sewing machine work, said adjustments should be easily made, be reproducible and should stay in place during any and all short or extensive embroidery runs or projects. Such criteria have not been met with other conventional thread guides or prior art. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved thread guide capable of being releaseably attached to the home embroidery and sewing machine and one that is adapted for remaining attached to said sewing/embroidery machine if desired.
Such criteria has not been met with conventional or prior art thread guides.